Cost of Karnaphuli Tunnel connecting road rises by nearly Tk 57 crore as purchase committee approves proposals

The cost of the Karnaphuli Tunnel connecting road development and the project to upgrade the Anwara upazila connecting road to four lanes is rising by nearly Tk 57 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase has approved a proposal to increase spending by an additional Tk 56.90 crore on one package of the project, taking the revised contract value to Tk 323 crore 4 lakh 70 thousand.

The government approved the two proposals at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase held on Thursday (12 November) under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

At the same meeting, a proposal for work worth Tk 266 crore 14 lakh to develop the connecting road from the Anwara end of the Karnaphuli Tunnel to Gachbaria on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar national highway was also approved. Rana Builders (Private) Limited has received this work.

According to meeting sources, Rana Builders has received the work of one package of the 'Development of the connecting road (Z-1040) from Karnaphuli Tunnel (Anwara) to Gachbaria on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar national highway' project under the Chattogram South Road Division of the Chattogram Road Zone. The contract value of this work is Tk 266 crore 14 lakh 62 thousand 949.

Separately, a proposal to increase the cost of one package under the first revision of the 'Upgrading the Karnaphuli Tunnel connecting road including the Anwara upazila connecting road to four lanes (Shikalbaha-Anwara road)' project has been approved.

The original contract value of the project was Tk 266 crore 14 lakh 62 thousand 949. Now, through Variation Order-1, an additional Tk 56 crore 90 lakh 7 thousand 315 is being added, taking the revised contract value to Tk 323 crore 4 lakh 70 thousand 265. The cost is rising by 21.379 percent compared with the original contract value.

Under the project, alongside upgrading the Shikalbaha-Anwara national highway to four lanes, there are plans to build a separate lane for slow-moving vehicles, widen the road embankment and plant trees in the median of the road.

The project work is being implemented by a joint venture of National Development Engineers Limited, Hasan Techno Builders Limited and Taher Brothers Limited.